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Turkey

Turkey

November 29, 2025

Ankara 7:57 am

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Kurdish official Aldar Khalil, who played a key role in establishing Syria's semiautonomous Kurdish region in 2013, during an interview in Qamishli on Dec. 22, 2018.

Exclusive

Top PYD official Aldar Khalil: 'Syria is telling Kurds to separate'

Al-Monitor spoke exclusively to Aldar Khalil, a member of the executive council of the Democratic Unity Party (PYD), which shares power in the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria, about the halted talks between Syria’s transitional government and the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets Pope Leo XIV during a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace, Ankara, Nov. 27, 2025.

In first foreign visit, Pope Leo meets Erdogan, urges Turkey to uphold pluralism

On his inaugural foreign visit to Turkey, Pope Leo called for respect for pluralism after meeting with the Turkish president.

Andreas SOLARO / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Pope Leo in Turkey, navigating faith, politics and Orthodox tensions

The visit will bolster Turkey’s image on religious tolerance and shared positions with the Vatican while Ankara navigates sensitive issues surrounding the Halki Seminary and the Greek Patriarchate’s ecumenical status.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

Turkey sentences journalist over 4 years in jail for threatening Erdogan

Prominent Turkish journalist Fatih Altayli is pictured in this undated image.

Analysis

PKK leader Ocalan gains legitimacy in Turkey, bigger sway over Syria’s Kurds

People take part in a demonstration to call for the liberation of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan outside the European Council in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Sept. 15, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Turkey’s spy chief holds talks in Egypt over trapped Hamas militants

BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images

Culture

Turkey’s graphic-novel culture blossoms in face of censorship

cartoons

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu (L), IYI Party Meral Aksener (2ndR), Felicity Party (Saadet) Temel Karamollaoglu (R), Democratic Party (DP) Gultekin Uysal (3rdL), Future Party (Gelecek) Ahmet Davutoglu (3rdR), and Democracy and Progress (DEVA) Party Ali Babacan (2ndL), belonging to the Turkish opposition alliance called National Alliance, pose on stage before presenting their programme, in Ankara, on January 30, 2023. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey’s opposition close to naming Kilicdaroglu to challenge Erdogan

Turkey’s six-party opposition inches closer to naming main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu as the common candidate, but the right-wing Iyi Party is still hesitant.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan talks to the press during his visit to the hard-hit southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir.

Erdogan rules out postponing Turkey's elections after earthquakes

Analysts maintain that postposing elections would have higher costs for Erdogan at the ballot box as rage grows.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (R) visits the area of a crushed wagon.

Turkey and Greece maintain post-disaster diplomacy after train crash

As Ankara condoles Athens over the fatal train crash, Turks praise the Greek transport minister's resignation and lament at Turkish government officials for not taking responsibility over quake failures.

dog turkey

Culture

Husky dog rescued from rubble 23 days after Turkey earthquakes

The dog’s overall health is good despite dramatic weight loss, volunteers say.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Turkey arrests senior Islamic State figure, police say

The arrest came after a series of security warnings by several foreign diplomatic missions in Turkey about potential attacks on Westerners last month.

Fenerbahce supporters cheer during the UEFA Europa League group B football match between Fenerbahce SK and Stade Rennais FC at the Ulker stadium, in Istanbul on Oct. 27, 2022.

Sports stadiums shake as fans bash Turkey's earthquake response

Public dissent is getting louder online, at sporting events and on the streets as further examples of Turkey's disaster mismanagement emerge.

A fisherman sells his fish at a public market where customers shop in the historical district of Ulus in Ankara on December 30, 2022. (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey's economy grows 5.6% in 2022, but labor’s income share shrinks

In a sign of deepening income disparities, the share of Turkey’s labor force from the national income has dropped to 26.5%, a far cry from 36% in 2016.

Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO, speaks with Sanna Marin, Prime Minister of Finland, during the 2023 Munich Security Conference (MSC) on February 18, 2023 in Munich, Germany. The Munich Security Conference brings together defence leaders and stakeholders from around the world and is taking place February 17-19. Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine is dominating the agenda. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

Sweden, Finland NATO accession talks with Turkey to resume in days

Turkey says talks with Sweden and Finland will soon resume on Sweden's and Finland's bids to join the NATO alliance.

KONSTANTINOS TSAKALIDIS/SOOC/AFP via Getty Images

Fury in Turkey as Red Crescent sells tents following quakes

Turks' ongoing fury over the government's response to the devastating earthquakes has ramped up over reports that the Turkish Red Crescent sold thousands of tents instead of distributing them to victims.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (L) and Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad (R) give a press conference at the Foreign Ministry headquarters, Damascus, Syria, Feb. 27, 2023.

Egypt's FM Shoukry visits Syria, Turkey in renewed earthquake diplomacy

The top Egyptian diplomat's visit to Syria and Turkey marks a first after almost a decade.

A family pass by a ruined building in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 25, 2023.

New earthquake hits Turkey’s disaster zone, killing one, trapping several

The new quake collapsed several buildings in a province that is among 11 Turkish provinces that were badly hit by the massive Feb. 6 earthquakes.

People fish from the Galata bridge, near Suleymaniye mosque (backround) in the Eminonu district of Istanbul, on January 10, 2023. (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Scientists: Time running out to save Istanbul from major earthquake

Seismologists are calling for urgent measures to prepare Istanbul for a major earthquake expected in the near future, warning of catastrophic destruction in Turkey’s most populous city and economic capital.